A couple of weekends ago I decided to clean out my EGR valve, when I got the car about a month ago it had 90k of motorway miles on the clock and has never had any system cleans.  I'm hoping this is why it sometimes misfires and just need's a good dose of injector cleaner..!

Apologies for the quality of the pics (the first one was taken with my phone), but after seeing the state of this I would highly recommend anyone with a TDI, especially a higher miler to give it a go.  Removing it was a bit fiddly but definately worth it, only problem now is that the manifold is still caked up (getting that off looked like a massive job with all the turbo hoses in the way) and will still be restricting exhaust flow, so that's my next task.  I just need to find the allen key I dropped into the engine bay..!

 

 

 

Christ the amount of cack in there is amazing, and causing quite a restriction, been toying with replacing mine with a by pass but I've read a few threads saying it can cause running problems, But I think I may well give my EGR a good clan now.

i have just done mine in the last 2 days, cleaned the intercooler too which was full oil!

EGR before

EGR after

Inlet manifold before

And after

And heres what came out of the IC, there was more too!

 

cleaned mine in boiling water with some high powered detergent that my dad had in the milking parlour, then blasted it out with the hot pressure wash, and repeated once more. it literally flew out! much better than scrubbing with a solvent like turps or brake fluid, like when i did the EGR on it;s own at 60k. didn't get it half as clean as this time. 

 

 

Are you able to reuse the EGR gasket ?

if your careful yes.

i got new ones, but i don't think it's really necessary. if your doing the manifold the renew that gasket, but the egr ones are'nt critical.

 

When I did mine I didn't change the gasket, I was handling the thing very carefully trying to avoid breaking anything so should be okay if you're careful
Since I cleaned it I've also bypassed the EGR by capping the vacuum hose and not had any adverse effects yet... I'm not expecting a massive improvement in performance though until I've cleaned the manifold out.

Thanks for the advice on the manifold gasket fenwick!  It's something I probably would have overlooked   Looking at your intercooler I guess I should think about cleaning mine too, especially with the miles on it, can't do any harm!  I'm liking the brand new look of the 'after' photos from the Golf components.

I used a toothbrush and a whole can of carb cleaner cleaning my EGR that much but I'm thinking of taking to the manifold with some nail polish remover, should dissolve the soot up a treat :)

Looks quiet a bit job removing the EGR, is it as big as it looks ? Has anyone noticed any real time befits from this, obvisouly cleaning it is healthy for the car, but does it effect how it runs / performes ?

Just taking the EGR valve off isn't too much of a problem, maybe a bit difficult to reach all the bolts but not a major job.  If you want to clean the manifold as well then it could start to be a bit more tricky, I'll take some photos when I take mine apart again.  It took me a couple of hours this time as I was doing it slow and steady but once you know how it's not too tricky.

As for performance improvments, I can't really say because I'm pretty sure my manifold is still restricting air flow but I've been told by a friend who drove mine that it isn't quite as snappy as a brand new Seat Leon PD150 and I'm thinking it's these build ups which are the major cause.  Again, I'll let you know once it's all cleaned up

it's not that hard to take the manifold off, took me about half hour.

when taking it off i left the TIP in place, just undone it from the inlet manifold and theres enough room to get in there with an allen key. EGR pipe from exhaust manifold need to come off, as does the flexible bit of piping from the airbox to the TIP. and some vacuum lines and a oil breather but nothing else major

however, i have a bit more room cos my manifold and TIP are alot smaller than the ones off a 130/50 PD 

Thanks for your advice guys. I'll keep an eye. I am happy with the car at the moment. Just serviced it, and all seems to be running O.K. So I am not going to fiddle about just yet. :)

 

Thanks for the advice.

Does the EGR valve get caked up like that on a petrol as well, and what difference is it likely to make to performance?  I've got a v6 4mo and in 2 weeks I'm going to attempt the major (20k miles) service myself.  I've got a week off and I'm just making a shopping list of parts right now.  I've just cleaned my throttle body which was caked in oil and carbon.  Just doing that has made a huge difference to the way my car feels.  I'm wondering if I can take off the manifold and EGR and give them a good clean as well.  I don't have a pressure washer though, or even a hosepipe

I thought the EGR thing is an emissions-related, diesel-only feature?

i didn't even know petrols had them!

i don't think it'sll be as dirty as the old dervs, but i'd imagine there will be some deposits no doubt.

only one way to find out........... 

I'll have a nosey around then.  Just saw a potential for more power when I saw the filth on the images.  I guess I'll just have to continue with my diet in order to improve performance for free.  Bugger.

Bump for reference

 

 

There is one on the 1.8T, looks like a DV and sits on top of TIP.

Post up a pic of the 4motion engine bay, should be able to spot it

I need to do this on my Bora 150PD as I suspect it's pretty clogged up after 111,000 miles!

Where would I find the EGR Valve on my TDI 150? My MPG is atrocious at the moment and think that this may be one of the reasons.

Big_E:

Looks quiet a bit job removing the EGR, is it as big as it looks ? Has anyone noticed any real time befits from this, obvisouly cleaning it is healthy for the car, but does it effect how it runs / performes ?

I wouldn't necessarily say I got any more power after cleaning my EGR and inlet manifold but it definatley ran and idled smoother. Plus its also the feel good factor of knowing you have removed all that gunk that cant be helping the engine.

I blocked off my EGR with a plate between the EGR and the pipe that comes up from the exhaust. No problems at all on a 110tdi and its been like that for months now.

If the layout of the 150pd is anything like the 110, the EGR will be at the left of the engine at the back, inline on the the pipe that comes from the intercooler to the inlet manifold.

I cleaned mine last weekend and haven't seen any improvement in performance, but I think that you really need to clean both EGR and more importantly the inlet manifold, which I intend on doing soon.

I have also blanked of the exhaust manifold up-pipe with a 2mm steel plate I made to prevent it getting gunked up again and it seems to running fine.

ERG is located on the left of the engine.

 

RoRu:

Is it possible to re-use the "strange VW clip" or do you need to replace it with a jubilee clip afterwards?

I'd replace the clip, it looses its springiness over time and even more so when removed.

Clips are only about 60p from VW anyway. 

you can re-use them, they are just spring clips.

 

i have replaced them 2 with jubilee clips though cos i snapped one off.

T-Bolt clamps are the way forward.  No more boost leaks or problems with springs.